I have been pointed to a study by Jane Vincent into teenage mobile phone usage.

The 2004 report highlights that, contrary to popular belief, teenagers are very price sensitive. Voice calls are kept to a minimum and chat is via MSN (an a PC) rather than via SMS. Children do not tend to connect their phone to a PC and resist downloading extra applications, games and ringtones as it is perceived as being risky and expensive…. which has overtones of my previous post on Mobile Phone Downloads Are Difficult for Consumers.

Many meetings, conferences and seminars, that I attend, talk of increasing market segmentation and sub-segmentation. OEMs are increasingly producing phones for specific age groups and interests (e.g. business, gaming, photography). Network operators are also increasing targeting tariffs at types of users. Reports such as this study into teenage mobile phone usage help to understand the real issues. However, whatever the segment, some basic things still need to be addressed. How much does it cost? Is this cost known (and fixed) upfront? Is it easy to use? How easy is it to get help when things go wrong?

Todays teenagers are tomorrow’s key consumers. It’s a shame they currently perceive mobile as being risky and expensive.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 13th, 2006 at 9:47 am and is filed under Mobile, Network Operators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.